Blockcrunch - 20 Minute Crypto Insights

Crypto games often face criticism for being unpolished and lacking quality, but Illuvium is unlikely to face this issue. Built by a team of 220 people, $35 million has been reportedly invested over 2 years in building this AAA Sci-Fi game world - and they’re expected to launch their games this year Today, we have Kieran Warwick, Co-Founder of Illuvium, to share with us:  Building the next big gaming franchise like Pokemon and League of Legends Why crypto games are better than traditional games How the Illuvium community could have a share in Illuvium's revenue   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Introduction to Illuvium (00:04:06) – Illuvium’s Founding Story (00:07:25) – Inside Illuvium’s gaming world  (00:13:25) – Investing/building Web 3 vs Traditional games (00:19:05) – Illuvium’s business model   (00:23:14) – Vision for the future (00:27:04) – Reasons for launching $ILV token before the game (00:30:36) – Building on ImmutableX (00:35:31) – Strategy to onboa

Crypto markets are off to a bullish start in the new year, and one of the projects that have renewed a ton of community interest is Frax - the only semi-algorithmic stablecoin that has actually persisted throughout 2022’s thick and thin without depegging. Today, we have Sam Kazemian, Founder of Frax, to share with us: How Frax’s 5 products all tie together in 1 unifying vision  Frax’s roadmap in 2023 Frax’s liquid staking ETH versus others   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Introduction to Frax (00:04:10) – Major milestones for Frax in 2022 (00:07:12) – Frax’s 2023 roadmap (00:13:25) – Decentralization vs Capital Efficiency vs Scaling (00:21:20) – Frax as the central bank of DeFi  (00:27:15) – Frax’s version of liquid staking ETH (00:45:04) – Path to decentralizing the ETH PoS validator distribution (00:50:50) – Handling slashing (00:55:54) – Frax’s yield mechanism on staked ETH (00:59:38) – Major initiatives to increase Frax adoption    More Resources: Guest

P.S Blockcrunch VIP subs can access exclusive alpha from Hal in our part 2 interview over at http://bit.ly/3iTnsS4   2022 was one of the toughest years to be in crypto with even professional investors suffering from 80-90% losses.   However, crypto hedge fund North Rock Digital reportedly navigated 2022's crises nimbly, and its founder quickly rose to prominence on Twitter for his timely and decisive market commentary.   Today, we have Hal, Founder of North Rock Digital, to share with us:  His transition from equities to crypto Identifying investable narratives and planning the trade 1 vertical that Hal is looking at right now   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Introduction to Hal (00:05:21) – North Rock Digital’s thesis  (00:11:13) – Equities versus Crypto investing (00:15:36) – Identifying investable narratives (00:17:58) – How Hal played the ETH merge (00:22:26) – Thesis on Short BTC Long ETH  (00:26:56) – Positioning, sizing and exiting trades (00:34:36) –

Since 2020, the development of the Web 3 space has arguably validated the value propositions of decentralized blockchains. However, Web 3 today primarily serves crypto-natives and exists as a subset of the internet.   An up-and-coming vertical of projects known as Consumer Vertical focuses on helping empower the everyday internet user and helping Web 3 reach its fullest potential.   Today, we have Derek, Co-Founder of Collab+Currency, to share with us: - What is the Consumer vertical? - 3 consumer verticals that will take off in 2023 - Identifying investable opportunities - “3 rights” investing framework - Time, Problem, Team   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:22) – Introduction to Collab+Currency  (00:05:45) – “Aha!” moment for Derek  (00:07:57) – Conviction to focus on the consumer vertical  (00:11:16) – Disrupting Web 2 social media platforms (00:17:22) – Social features enabled by blockchain  (00:22:43) – Outpacing Web 2 competitors (00:2

*PS* we apologize for the background noise around the 17min mark. We have already tried to minimize it to the best we can, but it is still audible. Even amidst all the blowups in the bear market, great builders continue to build and great investors continue to support them. Blockchain Capital is one of the earliest and leading venture capital firms in the blockchain industry. Today, Blockchain Capital manages $2 billion in AUM, and has invested in some of the largest blockchain companies like OpenSea, 1inch and Aave.  Today on Blockcrunch, we have Kinjal Shah and Yuan Han Li, Partner and Associate at Blockchain Capital to share with us: 4 verticals they think will take off in 2023 Framework for investing in different verticals Making Web 3 development more accessible for builders Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   Timestamps: (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:39) – Introduction to Blockchain Capital  (00:07:48) – Exploring consumer vertical  (00:12:47) – Improving wallet UX with Account

How can crypto be dead when we still have outstanding teams building amidst this bear market? STEPN took the world by storm when it introduced the idea of earning through movement - at its peak, there were more than a million daily active users using STEPN. Since then, Find Satoshi Labs (team behind STEPN) has made further strides and verticalized to launch its own decentralized exchange DOOAR and more recently, their NFT marketplace MOOAR.  Today on Blockcrunch we have Mable Jiang, Chief Revenue Officer at Find Satoshi Labs to share with us: How is STEPN performing in a bear market  Decision to verticalization Enforcing royalties on DOOAR Trading vs subscription fee on DOOAR Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:39) – Introduction to STEPN (00:04:41) – Motivation for playing STEPN in a bear market (00:09:07) – STEPN’s new dual reward system (00:14:19) – Cutting Orca off and creating own DEX (DOOAR) (00:20:41) – Buildin

GoldenTree, one of the largest independent asset managers with $47 billion AUM recently announced their official foray into the crypto space with a new subsidiary GoldenChain and a $5.2 million investment in Sushi While traditional funds entering the crypto space is becoming more common, GoldenTree’s entrance is huge news because of their caliber and active investment strategy Today on Blockcrunch, we have Avi Felman, GoldenChain’s Head of Digital Asset Trading to share with us: How might crypto markets evolve over the years Frameworks for short-term and long-term trading GoldenChain’s thesis for $5.2 million investment into Sushi and their plans   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:42) – Avi’s road to investing in crypto professionally (00:05:52) – GoldenTree, a $47b fund’s foray into crypto (00:09:19) – Evolution of crypto markets (00:20:37) – Categorizing different bets (00:26:12) – System for short-term trading (

Last week was one of the darkest weeks for the crypto industry - the implosion of one of the largest crypto exchanges that no one saw coming. In this episode, Blockcrunch Host Jason Choi recounts the entire FTX saga all the way from FTX's 2019 beginnings to the aftermath of the implosion. Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice. ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:30) – Alameda's Raise in 2019 (00:03:14) – Raising for FTX (00:06:13) – Becoming One of the Largest Exchanges (00:09:36) – Achieving Mainstream Awareness (00:11:21) – The Start of FTX's Collapse (00:14:27) – FTX's Implosion (00:23:08) – Hacked and Siphoning of Funds (00:24:31) – The Aftermath ----------- Sponsors ------------- dYdX is the Leading Decentralized Exchange for trading perpetual contracts. Users enjoy low fees, deep liquidity, up to 20x more buying power and even earn $DYDX from trading. Trade on dYdX today at: https://trade.dydx.exchange ----------- More Resources --------- Blockcr

With DeFi activity reportedly down 70% from its all-time high and the recent OFAC regulations, it is safe to say DeFi took a heavy beating in 2022.  However, Sam Kazemian, Founder of decentralized stablecoin protocol Frax thinks that DeFi is not dead but requires innovation to reignite interest in the vertical.  Today on Blockcrunch, we have Sam and Wangarian to share with us: Regulatory landscape and tips on navigating it Lessons that the DeFi industry could learn from Luna’s implosion How to revive DeFi as a vertical  Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice. ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:17) – Regulatory pressure on DeFi  (00:05:54) – Tips for founders to navigate regulations (00:13:05) – Reviving DeFi as a vertical  (00:19:43) – Lessons from Luna’s implosion (00:28:18) – Dilemma of centralization and stability  (00:32:04) – Verticalization vs composability  (00:36:39) – Updates on Frax and its future (00:42:20) – Use-cases that Sam is excited for   

Recently we’ve seen the rise of applications verticalizing into their own app-specific chains While app-chains offers customizability, they lack the social coordination that generic chains bring - Sei offers both by being in the intersection of app-specific and generic chains Sei is the first sector-specific Layer 1 blockchain specialized for trading to give exchanges an unfair advantage Today on Blockcrunch, we have Jay, Co-Founder of Sei to share with us: Why sector-specific chains are better than app-chains/generic chains Types of projects that benefit from Sei Sei’s area of major innovation    Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice. ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:32) – Introduction to Sei  (00:06:37) – Potential trade-offs (00:09:13) – Conviction to Build DeFi specific chain (00:11:59) – App-chains vs Sector-specific chains (00:15:33) – Importance of having on-chain orderbooks (00:18:13) – Examples of projects building on Sei (00:20:28) – Long-term m

Cosmos has grown to become one of the largest blockchain ecosystem, with apps and services trading at more than $59 billion market cap   However, the community has always criticized ATOM, the token that powers the ecosystem, for its inability to accrue value   ATOM 2.0 is here to change that.    Today on Blockcrunch, we have 2 Cosmos experts to share with us: The 4 proposed changes of ATOM 2.0 How value can be accrued to ATOM after the change Timeline of upcoming updates   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:27) – Overview of Cosmos (00:05:07) – What is ATOM 2.0 (00:12:16) – Change in ATOM’s monetary policy (00:15:21) – Rationale for channeling more emissions into Cosmos’ Treasury (00:17:29) – Mechanics of ATOM liquid staking (00:19:42) – What is Interchain Security (00:25:33) – What is Interchain Scheduler  (00:36:47) – What is Interchain Allocator (00:44:09) – Is Mesh Network synergistic with ATOM 2.0?   -----------

Yield Guild Games is the largest gaming guild in Web 3 and have invested in standout Web 3 game titles like Axie Infinity, Sandbox and more . To date, they claim to have helped 30,000 players worldwide earn over $10 million playing Web 3 games thanks to their scholarship model.  Today, Yield Guild Game’s Co-Founder Gabby Dizon shares with us: 2 new ways Web 3 guilds are evolving 3 ways to make Web 3 games “fun” Framework on investing in games 2 games Gabby is excited for Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice. ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:55) – Background of Gabby (00:03:10) – Are P2E games sustainable? (00:07:42) – Aspect of games that should be on-chain (00:10:53) – Will P2E games continue to be a thing in Web 3? (00:12:22) – How to make P2E games sustainable? (00:19:42) – Difficulties of building a successful game (00:31:09) – Framework for investing in Web 3 games (00:35:36) – How to define fun (00:37:23) – Investing in game infrastructure vs gam

*Apologies for the audio quality this week! Usual quality will resume in the next episode Even in a bear market, Ribbon Finance continues to provide high but most importantly, sustainable yield for its users.    Ribbon is DeFi protocol that allows users easy access to crypto structured products.  Till date, they have facilitated over $10 billion in notional volume and allows users to earn up to 24% on their ETH despite being in a bear market.    Today, Ribbon’s Co-Founder Julian Koh shares with us: Why are high yields sustainable on Ribbon Building new products vs integrating with others What is takes to revive DeFi Potential regulations on crypto space   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:41) – Road to founding Ribbon (00:07:34) – Primer on structured products (00:11:31) – Risks of capital loss on Ribbon (00:14:16) – Managing options with automated smart contracts (00:16:00) – Preventing market makers from front-r

Many businesses have been disrupted by technology - Electric Capital thinks investing is no different   Electric Capital, a crypto VC fund with more than $1 billion AUM, hires Software Engineers and Designers instead of Financiers to manage its fund.    Today, Managing Partner Avichal from Electric Capital shares with us:   Thesis on Software Eating Money DAOs as Internet-native corporations Importance of UI/UX to onboard the next billion users Great Thinkers = Good Founders   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:32) – Avichal’s hop from Facebook to managing $1b fund (00:07:15) – Thesis on Software eating Money (00:13:05) – 3 things Electric’s Engineers do (00:16:26) – Why is Electric bullish on DAOs (00:25:29) – Examples of good DAO governance (00:31:30) – Good UI/UX to onboard next billion users (00:37:36) – Identifying unobvious but good investments (00:40:33) – Investing in great founders (00:44:42) – Will crypto f

Most wouldn’t be comfortable with broadcasting their daily lives to the entire world - but that’s what happening with the transparent nature of blockchains   Founders of Aztec Network believe that privacy is a fundamental human right and that crypto-users should have easy and cheap access to privacy.   Today, Co-Founder Joe Andrews and Head of Growth Jon Wu from Aztec shares with us: Use-cases for privacy beyond illegal activities Achieving privacy as a default option Regulatory landscape for on-chain privacy   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice. ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:45) – Why is privacy important to people (00:09:28) – What exactly is Aztec (00:15:12) – Like a VPN for Ethereum Network (00:21:56) – Achieving low transactions cost & privacy (00:24:27) – Aztec versus other privacy protocols (00:29:30) – Regulatory risk for users on Aztec (00:36:52) – Making it difficult for illicit activities (00:38:43) – Paths to preserving privacy vs re

Who best to understand struggles of crypto founders than fellow founders?    Tascha is the Co-Founder of Alpha Venture DAO and built a DeFi protocol that had a TVL of $3 billion at its peak.   Today, she joins us as a mentor in Tangent to share with us:   How Alpha scaled to $3B in deposits 2 crypto verticals Tascha is excited about How to identify great founders in 60 minutes   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice. ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:42) – Early days of Alpha Finance (00:06:10) – Motivation behind building levered yield farming back in 2020 (00:09:44) – What is Alpha Venture (00:13:17) – How to be a successful founder (00:17:53) – Balancing between reinvention and solving pain points (00:26:07) – Key areas that Tascha is excited for (00:30:09) – Thought process for identifying market opportunity (00:32:11) – Identifying great founders to invest in (00:40:36) – Difficulties of running a crypto start-up ----------- Sponsors ------------- dYd

If you’re a gamer you must have thought it’d be nice if you could transfer your in-game resources from one game to the other. Well, you finally can with composable resources in Treasure’s game ecosystem.    Treasure is building the decentralized app-chain for an interoperable metaverse. In less than a year, Treasure onboarded over 100,000 community members and facilitated over $264 million with their NFT marketplace. Today, we have John and Karel, Co-Founder and COO of Treasure on the show to share with us: What exactly Treasure is Benefits of building and playing in Treasure’s game ecosystem Sustainability and long-term use case of $MAGIC tokens   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:03:25) – What exactly Treasure is (00:06:51) – The power of community-driven content (00:10:26) – How did Loot inspire Treasure (00:13:44) – Developer’s benefits of building on Treasure (00:19:40) – Why build a decentralized game infrastru

The Merge, which marks the official transition to Proof-of-Stake, is slated to occur around September 15 - 16th and is possibly the largest crypto event to happen in a long time. The transition to Proof-of-Stake is supposedly a bullish event, but lately, there have been concerns raised on whether it is the right move.  If you’re a founder or investor in crypto, you should be prepared for what’s to come. Today, we have Anthony Sassano, one of the largest proponents and educator of Ethereum on the show to share with us: What is The Merge How OFAC’s censorship may affect Ethereum Is Proof-of-Stake really better than Proof-of-Work? Reasons to be bullish for Proof-of-Stake   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:40) – Introduction to OFAC & The Merge (00:03:06) – What is The Merge (00:10:21) – Why might there be 2 Ethereum chains after The Merge? (00:17:46) – What is OFAC and why is it scary? (00:28:50) – Would PoW be

Three senior hires at top crypto funds Spartan Capital, Multicoin Capital and DeFiance Capital recently stepped down and started Tangent - an angel fund by founders, for founders.    Together, Tangent’s mentors have built billion-dollar protocols, managed hundreds of millions in capital and have deep expertise across every major Web 3 vertical.    Today, we have the co-founders Jason Choi, Darryl Wang and mentor, Mable Jiang on the show to share with us:   Crypto verticals they’re excited about Dangers of crypto VCs today  What makes Tangent unique Navigating the crypto markets for the next 12 - 24 months   Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice.   ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:40) – Introduction to Tangent team (00:03:39) – Rationale for leaving their jobs at top crypto funds (00:10:22) – Crypto verticals they are excited about (00:21:26) – Composability vs building your own products (00:28:08) – Smart contract wallets to boost crypto adoption (00:31:4

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations or DAOs for short are hailed as the future of managing organizations and work.   However, many are starting to doubt the feasibility of DAOs given its major blockers for it to succeed at scale.  In this episode, the 2 largest proponents of DAOs, Dmitriy and Peter from 1kx discusses: The current DAO landscape Why they are still bullish on DAOs What will it take for DAOs to succeed Host: Jason Choi @mrjasonchoi . Not financial advice. ------------ Timestamps ------------- (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:02:11) – What exactly is a DAO? (00:07:12) – Bear & Bull cases for DAOs (00:11:27) – Progressive vs Decentralization from the get-go (00:26:20) – Different types of DAOs (00:29:08) – Whale’s skewed voting power (00:34:30) – Recent Merit Circle vs YGG case (00:38:22) – Interesting DAOs to check out   ----------- Sponsors ------------- dYdX is the Leading Decentralized Exchange for trading perpetual contracts. Users enjoy low fees, deep liquidity, up to 20x more buying